Last port of call - the markets

Search speciality shops and stalls, not les hypermarchés, to bring home real French flavours, says Barney Allen

We've all done it: hurtled round the hypermarché in a panic before the boat leaves, loading up on saucisson, fromage and vin. A dash round Mammouth or E.Leclerc has become the traditional finalé of a British visitor's trip to France. But, says publisher Sarah Daniels, a regular visitor to France for over 25 years, we're missing out by ignoring the markets and speciality food shops of the channel ports. "A lot of the stuff you get in the supermarkets isn't great quality, but if you take the time to explore the town markets you can pick up the local specialities, such as shellfish and fabulous fruit and vegetables. I love the atmosphere of a regional market with all the small producers from the countryside, who really know their stuff. It's where the locals shop after all. It's much more fun than the hypermarché and often cheaper, too."

Practically every region of France is blessed with some outstanding regional delicacies and some of the major channel ports are located in the top gastronomic regions, such as Normandy and Brittany. Whether you're one of the growing number of second-home owners, a booze cruiser, or just visiting on holiday, the channel ports offer some of the best food shopping in Europe. This is where you'll find real French food, from scary-looking calves' heads and andouillettes (offal sausages) to glistening fresh oysters and palourdes (clams).

Daniels usually travels via Boulogne or Dieppe and recommends a tour of the local regional food shops as well as markets. "I always visit Olivier in Dieppe for his fantastic cheeses - neufchâtel, livarot and camembert au lait cru are all local specialities and he matures them in his own cellar. He also has some very interesting wines. In Dieppe I buy traditional country bread from Les Glaneuses - 123 Rue de la Barre." Dieppe hosts one of the region's biggest Saturday markets, where you can find delicious fruit, vegetables and fish. It's not just all about food either; in common with most markets in the Île de France and Normandy, Dieppe offers very good value baskets, candles, dried flowers and linen.

Boulogne too buzzes with markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the main square, Place Dalton, with smaller markets in its minor squares and suburbs in the week. The town also hosts a fish festival during the last two weeks in July. Daniels recommends loading up on fresh shellfish ("take a cool box"), charcuteries, butter, cheese, veg and patisseries.

The ferry ports of Brittany offer particularly rich pickings for those prepared to take the time to browse the markets and shops of Saint-Malo and Roscoff. Roscoff's Wednesday market is a great opportunity to get something different to impress your foodie friends. Local delicacies include marsh samphire, haricots verts marin (a type of seaweed) or flaky Guérande sea salt. Cider, honey, prunes, butter and artichokes are at their best here. Roscoff is the home of the famous oignons rosés, once sold by thousands of Breton "Onion Johnnies" who headed for the UK during the early part of the last century. Introduced by Capuchin monks from Portugal in the 17th century, the onion's full sweet flavour makes it perfect for soup.

The rich agricultural soil of la ceinture dorée in Northern Brittany produces truly outstanding vegetables, including cauliflower, fleshy Camus de Bretange artichokes, good potatoes, and sweet carrots. Here too you'll find the highly-prized pré-salé lamb, produced from black-faced sheep grazed on the Breton salt-marshes, and justly admired for its rich, slightly salty flavour. For a sweeter treat, head for A Guyader at 2 Rue Amiral Réveillère, for unique Roscovite patisseries such as the sea-green, frangipane-filled croûtes à thé, which you can enjoy in the master patissière's popular 16th-century salon à thé. Shopping in these markets is an education in itself. Where else will you find the famous Île de Batz potatoes, grown in seaweed?

If you think a carrot is just a carrot, you've never tasted Saint-Malo's delicious carrottes de sables, grown in the sandy soil close to the Breton coast. Here too are chestnuts from Brittany's famous Redon woods, which are used to produce the finest marrons glacés in France.

Don't forget to visit one of Saint-Malo's famous confiseries (confectioners) for unusual gifts such as chocolate sardines or Patates de Saint-Malo, potato-shaped sweets made of almond paste and dusted with cocoa powder. Saint-Malo's market is every Tuesday and Friday. Try Armor on the Quai de Servannais for fish, and Patisserie Guihard in the old citadel (Intra Muros) for Breton sweets and pastries.

For the more adventurous there is the world of algues, or seaweed. Brittany is one of the world's major seaweed producers. At the Thalado centre in Roscoff you'll find seaweed of every type and purpose, including culinary, cosmetic and therapeutic. There you can learn more than you'll ever want to know about seaweed and on Wednesdays they have seaweed cookery classes and tastings.

While we may not think of Calais as a centre of gastronomic excellence, it hosts two very good country-style markets in Place d'Armes and Place Crèvecoeur, both open on Thursdays and Saturdays. Paul Ovington, spokesman for Calais's tourist authority, enthuses: "While the UK has seen the demise of independent grocery shops, butchers and bakers over the last 30 years, Calais town still has a huge choice of family-run speciality shops offering a superb range of fresh and preserved foods, chocolates, patisseries and breads, as well as cheese, meat and fish.

"Local farmers grow most of the fresh vegetables sold in Calais - vegetables such as leeks, spinach, beans, potatoes and of course garlic are generally at least half the price of their equivalent in the UK, while lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and peppers are more than a third cheaper."

Apart from the adventure of discovering new taste sensations, the overall quality of the produce and the keen prices, shopping in the channel ports' markets is an experience in its own right. It's the perfect note on which to end your holiday. The ambience is rich with picture book Gallic charm; swarthy labourers with magnificent moustaches enjoy an early morning vin blanc, a black-clad matron haggles fervently with an ancient stallholder over some live rabbits, and the fishmonger flirts with a chic young housewife. Then there are the traders themselves - characters all, and usually more than happy to give you a taste of their produits artisanales (handmade products). Enjoy a quick coffee at the zinc of a local bar, or graze on a freshly cooked seafood galette (pancake) and just soak up the atmosphere. It will give you some warm memories to take home to our own barbarian shores - along with your gastronomic trophies. And your foodie friends and family will love you for it. Just don't bother stopping at Dover!

TIPS FOR THE PORT SHOPPER

* Remember to take a cool box for fresh meat and shellfish

* Start early! Most markets are open between 7.30am and 12.30pm

* Try before you buy - most traders offer free tasting

* Don't be tempted to take live produce such as rabbits and geese back to the UK - it's illegal

* Do leave time to visit a patisserie for some sweet treats on the journey home